Farewell
by kurohyacchan
Summary: The Eclipse Plan is going to be completed, and the one to do that will be Lucy. After a short happy moment, there is a sad moment. For Fairy Tail, would be this sadness eternal? Oneshot. Contains spoilers of recent chapters of the manga.


**It was supposed to be a drabble, but it ended bring far more than that. 8D**

**Nowadays I have so much feels for Fairy Tail, therefore, fictions shall be posted. Sorry for any grammar mistakes, I translated this from portuguese to english.**

**Hope you like it!**

* * *

Fairy Tail was shaken.

"Natsu... Did she really go into her own house?", he was asked.

"I saw her with my own eyes, you think I am lying?", Natsu growled menacingly.

"...I saw her too... But she said it was just a dream", Happy spoke, whimpering.

"Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Natsu?", Gray asked, avoiding the mad dragon slayer's eyes.

"You all, come into Lucy's apartment. Look at the floor inside of it... There are markings on it. These are from her tears. I can even tell where they are", he talked back. "She... said... Something to me. Something I wouldn't had realized if she hadn't told me. Do not ask. Just come with me."

_I won't let Lucy die._

* * *

** Three days before...**

Natsu and Sting were the only ones standing in that battle. Even Laxus and Erza were defeated, however, Sabertooth's members were defeated as well. The stadium was thrilling with the whole tension of the fight betweet the Fairy Tail team and the Sabertooth team.

Both dragon slayers' physical strength was incredibly impressive: they were still standing on their feet after countless attacks, after having wounds worthy of a half dead. That fight wasn't just for the guilds' pride; it was to show who is the best. It was for their pride. Besides, to Natsu, it was to revenge all those who were somehow affected by Sabertooth. To Sting, it was just to humiliate Fairy Tail, to show the pixies: Sabertooth would not lose.

Despite standing, they were both very tired; panting, sweating, almost falling. But none would fall. None would loose; but, evetually, one of them would have to bear the burden of losing.

Between a pant and another one, Natsu mumbled "I won't lose to a piece of shit like you". Sting smirked and replied "And you think I will allow myself to loosing to you? After Minerva destroyed that wimpy stellar spirit mage's hope? I will leave you, pixies of Fairy Tail, with your pride broken in little pieces."

The fire dragon slayer growled. "Don't dare calling Lucy a wimpy!", he shouted. Sting just kept smirking; mocking him, he said " 'don't call Lucy a wimpy', says the dragon slayer who couldn't even kill his own dragon."

That was enough for Natsu. "IT WAS YOUR FATHER. HOW DARE YOU KILLING THE ONE WHO RAISED YOU? WHO TAUGHT YOU MAGIC? WHO EDUCATED YOU, SUPPORTED YOU?", he yelled, making a strong boost forward and making his fire condense on his fists. Sting did the same; condensed his magic on his fists as he boosted himself forward.

With a huge explosion, both dragon slayers collided.

* * *

**...**

- Natsu, stop! - Erza commanded, with bandages and band aids - even if you have won the fight, you are the most injured one! Go rest!

The fire mage, with great effort, finally defeated Sabertooth's dragon slayer and made Fairy Tail get the first place on the Grand Magic Games' ranking. He was stunned with his own happiness, with his own pride and Fairy Tail's, and, of course, with his own weariness. But those wouldn't be the reasons that would stop him from notify Lucy about his victory, his revenge, because her, more than anyone, deserved to know.

- Did you hear me, you twerp? - Titania thundered with her murderer aura - Recover yourself, then you can talk to Lucy! She needs to recover too!

- But... But I want her to cheer up now! - he answered, pouting - I saw Happy running to the ward when I won. I want to see Lucy too! - he kept grimacing childishly while crossing his arms. Erza let out a loud sigh, facepalming herself and making the guild members, who were around her, laugh.

- Ok, ok. We want to see her too - she tried to smile because of her anger, scaring some people around her.

Then, Natsu started running and limping towards the ward (running over some people in his way as he kept saying "sorry, sorry!"). When he arrived, he opened the door.

It was really quiet. He wondered the reason to this silence, and when he looked closely, he saw Wendy and Charle apparently sleeping in a random corner of the room. "Ah, they are sleeping. They should have spent much magic energy. But what a place to sleep", he laughed.

He went torwards the beds and he heard a small noise, that revealed itself as Happy. "Hey, what are you doing?", the dragon slayer asked. The cat raised his head, tearful, and whimpered:

- Natsu... Lucy is not here... She's not in the bed, not in the bathroom, not in the lockers - the cat throwed himself in Natsu, hugging him. The boy was confused and shocked - Where's Lucy?... I want to see her!

- H...Hey, what do you mean? I can smell her here... In fact, her smell is impregnated in this room. What do you mean, she's not here?... - the fire mage started to get desperate. - Oi, Wendy!

Shaking the sleeping sky dragon slayer, she slowly opened her eyes and seemed to get anxious when she fully regained consciousness; her eyes filled with tears.

- Natsu-san... - Wendy was shaking hesitantly.

- What happened, Wendy? Where is Lucy? - Natsu helped the girl to rise and sit, feeling a mix of sudden stress, uneasiness, anger and despair. They were so happy a few minutes ago...

- Those... Those guys... Who tried to kidnap me that time and mistook me for Lucy... Came again... - she couldn't stop sobbing as she cowered more. She wouldn't be able to talk anymore.

The fire mage closed his fists, knowing what would come; he clenched his teeth and took a deep breath. As he was about to confirm the occurred, Charle, who just had woken up (and was also tearful, but angrier than Wendy), rose up.

- Those mages who tried to kidnap Wendy came again. They... - the female cat hesitated, avoiding Natsu's gaze - they entered out of nowhere, and came to kidnap Lucy. We tried to fight, but... They were different from the previous ones, from Raven Tail. They seemed to avoid all of our attacks, nullify our magic. Lucy tried to fight as well, but her magic power ran out really fast, and then... I can't tell if they used sleep gas or a magic with the same effect...I just know we fainted, and... They took Lucy. - Charle put her paws in her snout, trying to calm down.

Natsu was squeezing his hands so hard that his hands started bleeding. Again, he took a deep breath, but his breathing was not peaceful; it was shaking, and resembled a growl. His neck was strained and some veins were visible under his skin all over his body.

Erza, Gray and Juvia, as well as the other present guild members, were astonished, frozen: immobile in the entrance of the room, they were all in silence.

Erza and Gray were almost like Natsu: enraged. Juvia started crying. Whispers, talks and shouts were heard in the crowd in front of the ward. "Shut the fuck up", Natsu mumbled, hushing everyone. His voice was dangerously husky. "It's not like it's her funeral. I won't let her die. So don't act like she was dead, jackasses."

Rising, the fire mage asked Lucy's whereabouts; no one answered. "I asked if SOMEONE KNOWS IT.", he almost roared, out of reason. Erza stepped forward.

- We don't know, Natsu. If we did, we wouldn't be here, but searching for her. First: calm down. You will not help if you're enraged, you cannot think. We WILL find Lucy.

Throwing himself in a bed nearby, he sat, putting his hands in front of his forehead. Slowly, he seemed to calm down, as a murmur ran through the guild. "Natsu", Gray muttered. "Have you chilled yet?"

"Yes", Natsu answered. His eyes were covered by his hands, which were wattled in front of his brows. "I can follow her smell. We will find her without problems."

Gray nodded. "I'll go with you-

"No. I'll go on my own. I will kick everybody's asses. Alone.", the Dragneel said, bloodthirsty. A loud complain was heard; the guild didn't accept it. Erza said "No way! Lucy is also our nakama: we will save her all together!"

Natsu looked at her with the corner of his eye. For the first time, Erza retreated. The fire dragon slayer's eyes were frightening enough to make even Titania retreat. He sighed. "Then try it, if you can get there before me", he said. Going off the room, he sharpened his smell sense as a massive mix of smells entered his nose. Raising his head, Natsu tried to smell Lucy, unsuccessfully. There were too many smells in the stadium. Even if his sense was sharpened, he couldn't even feel a small trace of her. "They used something to cover her smell.", he growled as he clenched his teeth.

Fairy Tail was shaken. They spent hours trying to use every single way to get at least a small portion of Lucy's presence, but it was in vain. They used the smell sense of the guild's dragon slayers, they used sensory magic, even searched through the whole stadium; the stellar spirit mage certainly seemed to vanish.

* * *

**...**

Two days have passed since Lucy had been kidnapped. She has not shown herself ever since and the guild was in a mourning state. Some thought the girl was really dead, others kept hope. There were those who were the closest to Lucy, who were extremely quiet, isolated on their own places - or in any secluded one.

Natsu was one of those who were alone; he had been staying at Lucy's dwelling, as if it would confort him; instead, that tortured him. Her apartment was impregnated with her extremely good smell, however, in any other places that weren't her own and Fairy Tail's base, there wouldn't be a shadow of her smell, almost as if she had disappeared, or worse, as if she hadn't even existed. Apparently, the kidnappers used a kind of magic that avoided any kind of tracking, and the guild didn't have a clue of who could be the guilty ones. They had already checked Sabertooth's headquarters, as well as Raven Tail's, Mermaid Heel's and any other guild related to the Grand Magic Games, including their own headquarters, and they haven't found a single strand of her hair.

Despite being night at Magnolia, it was more quiet than usual. Fairy Tail was completely silent: some were sleeping on the tables, others were sleeping on their own homes; anyway, there wasn't one single person who could be awake. It seemed like the depressing aura of the place had made them sleepy.

A bit far away from there, something materialized. It was standing in a alley between two houses, and it seemed lost. Walking further torwards the weak light of a lamp post, the figure revealed itself as Lucy. She was using a old and ripped cloak, and despite that, she looked well and not injured. However, she looked sad.

Walking between Magnolia's treets torwards her guild's headquarters, she seemed to observe every detail of the city. "It's probably my last time here", she thougth. She wanted to keep the memories of every dirt in the sidewalk, every reflection on the river's water, every piece of cement; she turned her head to look at the city from all the possible angles.

She sadly smiled. "The city is too quiet. That's kind of weird...". Lucy was almost wanting Magnolia to be with the usual buzz, but then, she remembered; she couldn't let citizens see her, just the people who she wanted to say goodbye. Memories suddenly came into her mind.

_"Are you seeing it, Lucy?", Arcadios, Fiore's Squadron Chief, Zeref's ally and head behind the Eclipse Plan cheerly asked. The girl was speechless; the Eclipse Gate was right in front of her, majestic. "That gate is what you are going to open later, using your keys."_

_The girl closed her fists. "What have you done to Yukino-san?", she agressively asked. Arcadios, smiling, answered "That girl did not have enough magic power to open the gate, then we stole her keys and discarded her". Lucy got desesperate. "You guys... Killed her? What a hearless action! How could you do that, she had no fault at all! She loved her stellar spirits... How could you...?"_

_"It's too late to get sad. However, Lucy, we will be good to you", he said. The female mage looked at him, trustless and confused. "You have half an hour to say goodbye to you Fairy Tail friends. Don't let citizens see you. And...", the Squadron Chief got serious. "Don't ask to be saved. You know what you can do with your power, right? You can ease your dragon slayer's pain, and the others' too. Got it?"_

_Lucy bit her lips, nervous. "...Yes, Arcadios-sama"._

_"Very well." and with a snap of fingers, runes rose all around the stellar spirit mage. "I will use projection magic to make you appear in Magnolia. Remember, just half an hour. If you disobey me, Fairy Tail will be crushed."_

Getting back to reality, the girl found herself in front of her guild. She saw several asleep mages on the tablets and chairs. Juvia, Erza, Gray, Mira, Freed, Levy, Cana, Elfman, Gajeel, Evergreen, Jet, Droy, Lisanna, Wendy, Reedus... Almost all were there, but still, there were those who were missing. There was no time to search for anyone in the big city, then Lucy silently decided to go only to the guild's headquarters and her home. "I won't wake anyone.", she thought, stepping lightly. Walking between the tables, she observed every single member as she sadly smiled. After walking through the guild, she walked back to the entrance. "Farewell... Fairy Tail", Lucy mumbled, walking torwards the street.

Knowing she would die in a few hours was really weird. She felt like a ghost, or almost that, while wandering throught the streets, trying to make memories in her last moments. Fear? She wasn't afraid of death. She would die in peace. She wouldn't regret nothing. She joined Fairy Tail. She found out she really loved her dad, and she was loved back. She had good friends. Good stellar spirits. Her life had been certainly good, despite short...

Well, her longevity didn't really matter. Lucy was part of Team Natsu. She smiled. She cried. She got angry, she got surprised. Above all, she was happy. There was no reason to be afraid of death. Maybe her only regret was not laughing one last time with the guild. She giggled at the thought; it was really weird. She was aware of her death, she was sad for leaving this world, but happy at the same time for being a part of it.

Awakening from her thoughts, she stopped in front of her home. Opening the front door, she saw the apartment manager; even her was asleep. Lucy smiled: the manager was using her old clothes. Entering her own apartment - and surprised for it not being locked -, she silently walked to the kitchen and almost jumping in shock with an asleep Happy over the table.

"Happy?", she thought. "What is he doing here?...", she was about to wonder, but then she remembered: to Fairy Tail, she had disappeared, vanished, and there was no trace of her. She felt a sudden affection wave for the cat; despite she was disappeared, it visited her home.

Happy, then, slowly opened his eyes, sleepy. Lucy was surprised; had he felt her presence, even though she wasn't really there?

- Lucy...? - he mumbled, groggy, and smiled emptily. At the same time, his smile was full of hope. - you came back, Lucy...?

The cat, obviously really tired, crawled torwards Lucy and gave her a hug, crying quietly. Lucy, shaken, hugged him back, feeling tears in her eyes. "Happy... I won't see you again", she thought, feeling her soul tighten.

- Sorry, Happy... - she smiled, tearful, putting the cat back in the table. With pain in her chest, she proceeded: - that is... Just a dream of yours.

- ... A dream? - he mumbled, slowly - I don't want... A dream. I want Lucy back... - then, he kept mumbling nonsense things before falling asleep again.

Wiping her tears, Lucy walked torwards her room, and got surprised again by seeing Natsu sleeping in her bed. Silently, with no intention of waking him, she approached her desk and moved her hand over her written stories. "Ah, yes.. I did not finish my last story.", she thought. "What a shame... I could have given it a decent ending before dying". She thought of the letters she used to write to her deceased mother, and wondered if she knew she would die before her true death, like Lucy knew.

Sighing, she turned to her bed. This time, she really jumped in shock; the pair of eyes which were staring at her were Natsu's, now sitting on her bed. Lucy, surprised, definitely hadn't heard his moviment's noise. Could she be so distracted that she hadn't heard him?

For a few seconds, what seemed an eternity, the two stared at each other. Abruptly, Natsu rose up. "Lucy... is that really you?", he asked, with an expression she had never imagined to see in him. It was an expression of someone who was desesperately asking an answer.

The girl looked away. " 'Really'? No...", she mumbled. The dragon slayer suddenly grabbed her shoulders. "No? Then how... How can I smell you even more now that you are here?... How can I... Touch you-

Having said the last words, Lucy's projection seemed to have a bug. Natsu, astonished, retracted his arms. "What the...?"

- I... I'm not here. But I am, at the same time... - she hesitantly mumbled. Seeing her friend's confused face, she proceeded - they are using projection magic on me.

- Projection...? Like Jellal would do when he was pretending to be Siegrain?... - Natsu asked, perplexed. Lucy nodded, and then Natsu's face got serious. - Where the hell are you? I'm going right now after you.

- No!... - Lucy got disturbed, rising her arm, as if she was really going to stop him - Don't come, Natsu... I don't...

She closed her fists. The fire mage noticed this action and looked into her eyes again. _"Don't ask to be saved"_, it was said to her.

- ... I don't want you to save me. - she said, staring him straight into his eyes.

He almost gasped; he really was expecting her to said another thing, something more... Lucy-like? Example, "I don't want you to risk yourself", or "I don't want to be a burden"? But she didn't want him to go there for her? What had happened?

- What...? - Natsu wondered if he was hearing her right. Heck, he was a dragon slayer; how could he mishear her?

- I don't want you to come, Natsu. If... If you come, you will be in my way. - she said as if the words were being ripped out of her.

He growled, what made her get insecure; well, she was speaking the truth, in a certain way.

- The heck are you talking about? - he thundered - what have they done to you? Why are you speaking this?

- They did not do anything... They told me. - she got serious. - Natsu, have you heard of the Eclipse Plan?

- Eclipse...? What the fuck? - the boy said, truthless - I don't care, I just want you to leave this place right now-

- It's related to me. - when he heard this, he stopped complaining immediatly - It consists in using all the twelve zodiac keys to open the Eclipse Gate. Using they all at the same time, the user's magic power will fade in the same time the gate opens... Meaning: the user will die.

Natsu gasped; obviously, the "user" was Lucy. She wasn't afraid of this plan. She wasn't even vexed by this plan. He wondered if she was accepting death; no, it couldn't be. She loved Fairy Tail. She wouldn't recklessly throw her life away... Right?...

- Will you die if you open this shit? I won't let you, I definitively won't let you. - he suddenly approached the stellar spirit mage, almost commanding her to obey him.

- I will open it. - Lucy replied back with a certain insistence - I'm the only one who can do that. I talked to all my stellar spirits and they agreed to help me.

- THEY AGREED? Are they throwing you life away? - Natsu growled very loudly, almost roar - They ALL agreed?

- Well.. Actually, only the Stellar Spirit King agreed, and he commanded the other spirits to help me - she smiled lightly - but all of them know it.

He closed his fists. Was it definite? Lucy was going to _die_? And by her _own will_? Even the stellar spirits would help her... And she would sacrifice herself for a plan who wasn't even hers. Wouldn't she just please the ones who created the plan? Clenching his teeth, he mumbled:

- Don't do this, Lucy... Please. Do... Do not die. Don't sacrifice yourself for that stupid plan. Don't do what your kidnappers want you to do... Don't kill yourself. - he was about to beg to her; with his head lowed, he seemed just a boy who would cry.

- I'm not doing that for them... I'm doing this for you guys. - she smiled. The dragon slayer rose his head, astonished. - ... If I open the Eclipse Gate... I will free the dragons who vanished in 777. And Igneel is between them.

Natsu got open mouthed. Would he finally meet Igneel if Lucy opened the Gate? Would he finally see him after more than one decade? His father, Igneel? He swallowed as Lucy kept smiling.

- I'm sorry, Natsu. I will die soon, but you will meet Igneel again. - she closed her eyes. Her projection got another bug and, opening her eyes, she proceeded - the time of the projection magic is ending. I have to go...

A silence came between the two. Lucy turned her back to him, feeling tears in her eyes. It was the last time she would see him. She wouldn't speak to him... Never again.

- Farewell, Natsu-

- WAIT, LUCY! - he held her hand, stopping her from walking. Surprised, she stared at him. He was literally desperate. - If... If I only can see Igneel with your sacrifice... Then... I don't want to see him!

The stellar spirit mage clenched her teeth and felt tears roll down her cheek. "Don't you want to see your father...? After all these years...?", she mumbled.

"OF COURSE I DO!... I just... If the cost to see him is... your life... Then I don't want to see him at all."

She lowered her head, sobbing sightly. "Sorry, Natsu. Even... If you hate to know about my death... I will die. And I will make the dragons reappear, then you, Wendy, Gajeel... Everyone will be happy... Right...?"

"I won't be happy if you die", he squeezed her hand even more tightly. He could feel her skin, her heat, her smell, even if she was just a projection. And that tortured him because she was not there; she was in a far place, about to sacrifice herself.

"You will have Igneel by your side to confort you", she smiled, tearful. Then, she but her hand over Natsu's. Her projection bugged again.

"I don't want to", Natsu clenched his teeth. "... don't go, Lucy. Don't go away from me". It was the first time she saw him begging, and that was killing her inside. Even if he didn't want her to die, she would do it for him. Feeling contradicted, she let another tear roll down.

_Ridiculous. I will die soon and seeing Natsu made me want to live again._

She had accepted her own death; why did she wanted to live after hearding Natsu's words? Why was it so painful now she wanted to spend another happy day with Fairy Tail, with her stellar spirits, with Natsu? The regrets that she thought she didn't have came into her mind: Can't be strong. Can't protect. Can't keep on being happy. Can't see the smily faces of her friends anymore.

And that last regret. The last, but not the less important.

Lucy's projection failed one more time.

She smiled, making Natsu look her in the eyes. Tears were still rolling down her pretty face. She was slowly getting close to him; for some reason, he closed his eyes. For a moment, for at least a small moment, his mind was blank; he forgot the paint of losing Lucy for a second...

Until he heard the words she whispered at his ear.

Hearding them, he immediatly squeezed his fists. Natsu himself, Fairy Tail's Salamander, who rarely cried or showed signs of that kind of action, felt his eyes tear up. However, they did not roll: he held them, while a shaking gasp got out his mouth. Clenching his teeth, he tried to hold her hands again, with no success.

Lucy, smiling, got away from him while her projection failed a last time. Her tears fell on the floor; retreating, the girl closed her eyes and fully disappeared.

The dragon slayer fell on his knees, with his hands still closed, that started to bleed again.

Lucy hadn't even been there; but Natsu could still hear the whispered words, smell her, feel the heat of her hand. And he saw them: the tears of the female mage let markings on the floor. Even if she was no more than a projection, she really had been there.

He needed to save her.

Even more now that she heard her last regret.

_"I'm sorry to say this only in the end._

_... I love you."_


End file.
